Schnucks closing two Rockford grocery stores

ROCKFORD — Schnuck Markets Inc. announced today that it plans to close two area stores: the locations at 1715 Rural St. and 2514 S. Alpine Road.

Company officials said the stores had low sales and that costly operations of the smaller, older stores factored into the decision. All 139 employees — 84 at Alpine and 55 at Rural — will be offered positions at neighboring Schnucks stores.

The stores will close at 5 p.m. May 31. Merchandise will be discounted before that time.

Schnucks today also closed the in-store restaurants and restructured related areas within its two largest stores at 6410 E. State St. in Rockford and at 1810 Harlem Road in Loves Park, which will result in the loss of 24 full- and part-time jobs. The pizzerias at those locations will remain open, and the menus will be expanded.

Reaction from longtime customers of the Rural Street store — often called Rural Oaks — was swift and mostly disappointment via social media.

Peter Thomas noted on the Register Star’s Facebook page: “The Rural (Street) store is a landmark in the neighborhood and always busy when we stop there. Hard to believe it doesn’t have enough business to stay open. Doesn’t make sense.”

Schnucks spokeswoman Lori Willis said the decision to close that location was especially difficult.

“We respect the fact that it is a store that has been a part of the community for quite some time,” Willis said. “It’s important to know that it is underutilized, and we can create efficiencies in this way and provide services and values that our customers want and need.

“It’s always difficult to make decisions of this type. Our first concern is always for our customers and our teammates. ... We certainly regret the inconvenience this decision will create, but we think it will help better serve customers in the long run.”

Willis noted that there is another Schnucks about 2 miles away at 2642 Charles St. The stores on East State and in Cherry Valley are also only a few miles a way.

The Alpine store’s lease expires July 31. The Rural location is managed by The DESCO Group of St. Louis, which is separate from Schnucks but was founded by Mark Schnuck in 1993.

DESCO will be seeking a new tenant for the building. Willis said the BMO Harris Bank location at the Rural Street store will also close.

South Alpine is a 42,000-square-foot store that is 35 years old. Rural Street is a 30,000-square-foot store that is 57 years old.

Both stores carried the Hilander name until 2013, when Schnucks brought the Logli and Hilander stores under its company banner. St. Louis-based Schnuck Market Inc. has been in the community since 1998 and bought the Hilander stores from The Kroger Co. in September 2011.

Schnucks closed the former Hilander store at North Main Street and Riverside Boulevard in May 2012.

Willis said the company doesn’t comment on store performance because of competition concerns, but did say of the Rural and South Alpine locations, “In an increasingly competitive retail environment, we have not been able to attract the type of sales we need to operate efficiently at these two locations.”